Sebastião Salgado

Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior (8 February 1944 – 23 May 2025) was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Salgado traveled in more than 120 countries for his photographic projects, which appeared in numerous press publications and books. Touring exhibitions of his work have been presented throughout the world.

He was a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.<ref name="Youngs" /> He was awarded the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant in 1982,<ref name="w-e-s-grant-salgado">Template:Cite web</ref> Foreign Honorary Membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992;<ref name="amacad">Template:Cite web</ref> and the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in 1993.<ref name="rps">Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Award Accessed 13 August 2012</ref> He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France since April 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Sebastião Salgado was born on 8 February 1944,<ref name="theguardian-dob">Template:Cite news</ref> in Aimorés, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.<ref name="International Center of Photography 2019" /> After a somewhat itinerant childhood, Salgado trained as an economist, earning a BA degree from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES); a master's degree from the University of São Paulo, in 1968; and a PhD from the University of Paris, in 1971.<ref name="International Center of Photography 2019">Template:Cite web</ref>

He began work as an economist for the International Coffee Organization and often traveled to Africa on missions for the World Bank.<ref name=":0" />

Photography

It was on his travels to Africa that Salgado first started seriously taking photographs. He chose to abandon a career as an economist and switched to photography in 1973, working initially on news assignments before veering more towards documentary-type work. Salgado initially worked with the photo agency Sygma and the Paris-based Gamma, but in 1979, he joined the international cooperative of photographers Magnum Photos. He left Magnum in 1994 and with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado formed his own agency, Amazonas Images, in Paris, to represent his work. He is particularly noted for his social documentary photography of workers in less developed nations.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> His work resides in Paris.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Salgado worked on long-term, self-assigned projects, many of which have been published as books: The Other Americas, Sahel, Workers, Migrations, and Genesis. The aforementioned three are mammoth collections with hundreds of images each from all around the world. His most famous pictures are of a gold mine in Brazil called Serra Pelada, taken between 1986 and 1989.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2001.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Between 2004 and 2011, Salgado worked on Genesis, aiming at the presentation of the unblemished faces of nature and humanity. It consists of a series of photographs of landscapes and wildlife, as well as of human communities that continue to live in accordance with their ancestral traditions and cultures. This body of work is conceived as a potential path to humanity's rediscovery of itself in nature.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September and October 2007, Salgado displayed his photographs of coffee workers from India, Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Brazil at the Brazilian Embassy in London. The aim of the project was to raise public awareness of the origins of the popular drink.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Salgado photographed the landscape and people of the Amazon rainforest (Amazônia) in Brazil.<ref name="theguardian-jones">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Salgado's work has been described by Andrei Netto of The Guardian as an "instantly recognisable combination of black-and-white composition and dramatic lighting".<ref name="theguardian-dob" />

Salgado and his work are the focus of the film The Salt of the Earth (2014), directed by Wim Wenders and Salgado's son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and produced by Lélia Wanick Salgado.<ref name="Guardian 16 July 2015">Template:Cite news</ref>

Environmentalism

Reforestation of Fazenda Bulcão, or Bulcão Farm, by Instituto Terra

Together, Lélia and Sebastião worked since the 1990s on the restoration of a part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. In 1998, they succeeded in turning Template:Convert into a nature reserve and created the Instituto Terra. The institute is dedicated to a mission of reforestation, conservation and environmental education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and death

Salgado was married to Lélia Wanick Salgado and had two children, including Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.<ref name="theguardian-2025">Template:Cite news</ref>

On a 2010 trip to Indonesian New Guinea, Salgado contracted falciparum malaria, which permanently impaired his bone-marrow function.<ref name="piaui">Template:Cite web</ref> Salgado died in Paris on 23 May 2025, at the age of 81.<ref name="b644">Template:Cite web</ref> His death was announced by Instituto Terra on the following day.<ref name="theguardian-2025"/><ref name="Youngs">Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards

• 1982: W. Eugene Smith Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund<ref name="w-e-s-grant-salgado" />
• 1985: Oskar Barnack Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1989: Hasselblad Award, Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1992: Oskar Barnack Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1992: Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences<ref name="amacad" />
• 1993: Centenary Medal from the Royal Photographic Society<ref name="rps" />
• 1993: Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) from the Royal Photographic Society<ref name="rps" />
• 1994: Grand Prix National French Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Culture (France)<ref name="2021 prizes"/>
• 1998: Prince of Asturias Awards, Arts category<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 1988: King of Spain International Journalism Award<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 2003: International Award from the Photographic Society of Japan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 2007: M2-El Mundo People's Choice Award for best exhibition a PhotoEspaña, for Africa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 2019: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 2021: Crystal Award, World Economic Forum<ref name="2021 prizes">Template:Cite news</ref>
• 2021: Praemium Imperiale<ref name="2021 prizes"/>
• 2024: Outstanding Contribution to Photography Sony World Photography Awards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

• Template:Flag: Commander of the Order of Rio Branco (2004)<ref name="Academie des Beux Arts">Academie des Beux Arts</ref>
• Template:Flag: Knight of the Legion of Honour (2016)<ref name="Academie des Beux Arts"/>
• Template:Flag: Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2014)<ref name="Academie des Beux Arts"/>
• Template:Flag: Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) (2018)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Publications

Salgado (left) gives Brazilian president Lula da Silva his new book in 2006, during Lula's first presidency.

• An Uncertain Grace. Essays by Eduardo Galeano and Fred Ritchin.
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• Workers: Archaeology of the Industrial Age.
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• The Children: Refugees and Migrants. New York: Aperture, 2000. Template:ISBN.
• Sahel: The End of the Road. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2004. Template:ISBN.
• Africa. Cologne: Taschen, 2007. Template:ISBN.
• Genesis. Cologne: Taschen, 2013. Template:ISBN.
• From my Land to the Planet. Roma: Contrasto, 2014. Template:ISBN.
• The Scent of a Dream: Travels in the World of Coffee. New York: Abrams, 2015. Template:ISBN.
• Kuwait. A Desert on Fire. Cologne: Taschen, 2016. Template:ISBN.
• Gold. Cologne: Taschen, 2019. Edited by Lélia Wanick Salgado. Template:ISBN.
• Amazônia. Cologne: Taschen, 2021. Edited by Lélia Wanick Salgado. Template:ISBN.<ref name="theguardian-jones"/>

Filmography

• The Salt of the Earth (2014). Documentary about and with Salgado, directed by Wim Wenders and Salgado's son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.<ref name="Guardian 16 July 2015" />

Exhibitions

View of Salgado's Genesis exhibition in 2014

• Genesis, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada, 2013;<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Natural History Museum, London, 2013;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, 2013–14;<ref>"Sebastião Salgado, Genesis", Paris Photo. Accessed 13 August 2014.</ref> National Museum of Singapore, 2014;<ref>"Genesis", National Museum of Singapore. Accessed 17 August 2014.</ref> Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2014; Fotografiska, Stockholm, 2014; Palazzo della Ragione, Milan, Italy, 2014; International Center of Photography, New York City, 2014–15;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> CaixaForum Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 2014–15;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sejong Center, Seoul, South Korea, 2014–15;<ref name="siteofspecialthings.com">Template:Cite news</ref> Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> CaixaForum Palma, Palma, Spain, 2015;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Amerika Haus Berlin, Berlin, 2015; Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China, 2015; Kunstfoyer, Munich, Germany, 2015–16; Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic, 2017;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2017<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="siteofspecialthings.com"/>
• Déclaration, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, 2018–19<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Amazônia, Philharmonie de Paris, 2021;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Science Museum, London, 2021–22;<ref name="scienceandindustrymuseum-2021">Template:Cite web</ref> Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, UK, 2022<ref name="scienceandindustrymuseum-2021"/> MAXXI, Rome, 2021–22;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Serviço Social do Comércio, Sao Paulo, 2022–23;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Museum of Tomorrow, Rio de Janeiro, 2021–22;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> California Science Center, Los Angeles, 2022,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Teatro Fernán Gómez, Madrid, 2023–24.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Pruemopterus salgadoi, an extinct species of eurypterid named after Salgado

External links

• Instituto Terra
• Amazonas Images—Photo agency formed by Salgado and his wife Lélia Wanick
• Biography: Sebastião Salgado at The Guardian
• "Sebastião Salgado: The silent drama of photography" TED Talk (17 minute video)
• "Back to Nature, in Pictures and Action", The New York Times, 2009
• "Genesis by Sebastião Salgado: Exhibition Review", Huffington Post UK, 2013
• "Timeless Tales by Sebastião Salgado", Light and Life Academy – Photography College, 2001
• Sebastião Salgado at Encyclopædia Britannica
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